Vending machine



W J. F. BURKE VENDING MACHINE Y Filed Feb; 10, 1935 2 Shets-Sheet 1 J.F. BURKE VENDING MACHINE May 5, 1936.

Filed Feb. 10, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIII K airman/ Q Patented May 5,1936 PATENT OFFICE VENDING MACHINE John F. Burke, Miami, FlaQassignor,by mesne assignments, to Da-Burk Holding Corporation, Miami, Fla., acorporation of Florida Application February 10, 1933, Serial No. 656,165

' 1 Claim. (01. 312-80) Another object of the invention is to provide avending machine in which the range of movement of the element whichtransfers the article being dispensed from the magazine to the dischargechute or passage is not limited to the diameter of the coin, inconsequence of which the extent of movement of the transfer means may begreat enough to enable it to receive and discharge packages ofconsiderable width.

Still another object of the invention relates to its adaptation to thevending of cigars under the ruling of the Bureau of Internal Revenue forthe safeguarding of the payment of the tax, to the efiect thatcigarettes can only be dispensed from the original stamped package anddischarged substantially directly from said package.

The object of the present invention is to provide a magazine of whichthe original package, substantially opened, forms the major portion, sothat the original contents remain therein'and from which the individualcigarettes are from time to time automatically withdrawn and discharged.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for engagingand holdingthe free portions of the original package when opened, in

position to avoid interference of said free portions with'the properdischarge of the cigarettes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a protecting casingfor the original package so constructed as to comply with theGovernmentrequirement that the revenue stamp and the caution notice shall both beat all times in full View.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings throughout the several figures of which, the samecharacters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the original package beneath theprotecting casing having the transparent sides;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the vending device;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the original paper package ofcigarettes opened in readiness for insertion in the vending machine;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the sliding carriage showing thecoin beneath the latch and in position for pushing the carriage;

Figure. 5 is a plan view of the carriage in latched position;

, not removed from the package.

Figure 6 is a section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a section taken along the line 11 of Figure 5; and

Figure 8 is a section taken along the line 88 of Figure 5.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the vending machinecomprises a frame or casing designated in general by the referencecharacter I having a top wall forming a slideway 2 for a carriage 3. Thecarriage is enclosed by a cover portion 4 having peripheral flanges 5which telescope over the top of the frame or casing I leaving a spacefor the carriage. The top face 6 of the cover 4 is provided with atransfer opening 1, having sloping walls 8 and 9 at its forward and rearedges. Said sloping Walls are preferably separately formed of sheetmetal'pieces which are bent so as to constitute beads l0 and II and arespot-welded or otherwise secured to the top face 6.

Figure 1 shows that the opening 1 is bounded I laterally by upstandingflan es l2 and I3, the same being in continuation of said beads andforming with said beads a rectangular frame adapted to receive withinits perimeter a protective casing M which is preferably hinged as at I5at one side and provided with a hasp and lock [6 on the other side. Thedetails of construction of the casing l4 and the frame which receives itand the manner of securing the casing I 4 in place and locking it, arenot essential to the invention and may be substituted by equivalentexpedients without transcending the spirit of the invention. It ishowever essential that certain panels, for example, the top and frontpanels I1 and I8, respectively, be transparent so that the revenue stampand the coupon notice on the cigarette package may be visible throughthe casing l4.

In positioning the original package of cigarettes with respect tothedischarge opening I in the top face 6, the ends of the package arecut away and one side of the package is cut longitudinally through themiddle leaving the package in the condition shown in Figure 3. Thecigarettes are Care must be taken to preserve the revenue stamp which isindicated at IS. The package is inverted, any suitable fiat object suchas a card or another package of cigarettes being placed against thecigarettes in the opened package so as to hold them in place during theinversion of the opened package. The package which is represented by thereference character 20 is placed with its opened side downward and withthe free portions 2| and 22 extending over the beads l 0 and I l. Therevenue stamp is folded upward and over the intact side of the packageas shown in Figure 1 so that it can be observed through the transparentpanel 11. The

revenue stamp must of course be destroyed when the contents of thepackage have been depleted and it is removed to be replaced by a fullpackage. The protective casing is then pushed down inside the beads land II, clamping the free portions of the package wrapper in place asshown in Figure 2;

A carriage 23 slides upon the slideway 2 within the space between thecasing I and the cover portion 4, said carriage comprising preferably astamped metal plate having flat portions 24 and 25 forward andrearwardly of ,an' outlet slot 26. Said outlet slot is made ofsufficient width to receive one of the individual articles to bedispensed; The carriage is provided with a front up-standing wall 21having a slot 28 in the middle and a push rod 9 reaches through saidslot and has a T-head 30 extending laterally and adapted to engage theup-standing wall 21 on opposite sides of said slot. The push rod 9'passes through the front wall 3| of the cover portion and through a boss32 fixed to said front wall, a spiral spring surrounds said push rodbetween said boss and the push button 33 on the outer end of said pushrod, said spring functioning to retract the push rod and with it thecarriage when the push button is released after having been depressed.

Normally, that is to say; when the push rod and carriage are in theretracted position shown in Figure 5, the imperforate flat portion 24 ofthe carriage lies beneath the opening I in the top face 6 and forms avalve closure therefor. The walls 3 and 9 slope only to a slight degreeand the flat face 24 lies closelyadjacent the free ends of said wallsforming therewith a bottom wall of a magazine, the sides of which andtop are constituted by the original cigarette package itself. It is thusobvious that the capacity of the magazine thus formed is no larger thannecessary to contain the number of cigarettes in the original package,and that the cigarettes are still in the original package when in saidmagazine, this being a requirement of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

When the carriage 23 is pushed inward through the depression of the pushrod 9', the slot '26 traverses the opening in the bottom of the magazineso that a cigarette falls into it and the dimensions of said slot aresuch that not more than one cigarette can enter it at a time. Thesliding of the flat faces 24 and 25 along the bottom layer of cigarettestends to roll them, communicating a rotary motion to the cigarettes inthe layersabove and tending to lower them along the sloping walls 8 and9, the cigarettes being thus very thoroughly agitated each time acigarette is dispensed, thus preventing jamming of the contents of theoriginal package and ensuring reliable delivery of the cigarettes.

The carriage serves the well known function of receiving a cigarettefrom the magazine and transferring it to a discharge port or aperturewhich is here designated as a slot 34 in the slideway displaced withrespect to the opening I in .the bottom of the magazine and associatedwith a chute 35 down which the released cigarette slides and isdelivered to an external trough 36. The ,trough 36 has means such as thegravity operated flaps 31 and 38 for compelling the grasping of thecigarette by the middle portion and not by the ends. By this meanscontamination is prevented of those portions of the trough 36 traversedby the ends of the cigarettewhich may be placed in the mouth. Thegravity flaps 31 are merely exemplary of other means which may be usedto pro tect the end portions of the cigarettes.

The carriage 23 is designed to be operated by a coin 39 introducedthrough a suitable coin slot 40 and interposed between the carriage andthe push rod. Since it is desired to have the carriage execute a rangeof movement greater than the diameter of the coin, means must beprovided for locking the carriage in its retracted position, otherwisethe extent to which the push rod 9' can be depressed would bring thesame into contact with the carriage and permit the latter to be movedwithout the insertion of the coin. Locking means is therefore providedwhich in the present instance comprises a latch 40 hingedly mountedalong the rear side of a rectangular coin chamber 4| formed in saidcarriage. Said latch is constituted as an elongated flap having anangular flange 42, see Figure 6, extending along its free edge and sobent as to form an acute angle with the slideway with which it coacts.Leaf springs 43 secured to said carriage normally hold the flap downinto engagement with the slideway. Pins 44 are provided, one on eachside of the slideway as indicated in Figures and '7. In the retractilemovement of the carriage, the inclined flange 42 slips over the pins 44,coming down on the outer sides thereof and preventing the movement ofthe carriage in a forward direction. When a coin is deposited throughthe slot 40 within the coin chamber 4|, said coin falls freely in aposition to be engaged by the T-head 30 of the push-rod. When the coinis so pushed, its edge first strikes the inclined flange 42 of the latch40, lifting said latch above the level of the pins 4|, the height ofwhich pins is not greater than the thickness of the coin. Furthermovement of the I push rod slides the coin beneath the latch to theposition shown in Figure 4 in which the coin now engages the downwardlyextending flange 45 at the rear of the coin chamber. Further movement ofthe push rod transmits the thrust through the coin to the carriage andthe latter is pushed. When the latch is released, the range of movementof the carriage is determined solely by the amount that the push rod canbe reciprocated and by the engagement of the rear end 46 of the carriagewith the inner side of the flange 5 of the cover portion. When thecarriage has reached the limit of its forward movement the coin has cometo a slot 41 in the slideway and drops through into a coin drawer 48 inthe manner indicated in Figure 2.

It will be'understood that while I have found this specific latchingmeans and release therefor to be efllcient and practical, it is onlysecondarily of the essence of the invention and may be substituted bysuitable equivalents.

What I claim is:

A vending machine comprising a frame having a. slot forming a magazineoutlet, means for receiving a single cigarette through said magazineoutlet and for ejecting the same, said magazine outlet being adapted tobe overlain by an opened package of the articles to be vended with theopened side downward, and a casing enclosing said package and havingbottom edges thereof cooperating with said frame to clampably holdethefree edges of the open side of said package.

JOHN F. BURKE.

